that’s enough! This is serious. You’ve tampered not only with two people’s lives but also with one man’s emotions. He came all the way from who knows where—”
“Noches, Texas,” he supplied.
“He shows up and defends me and our house, all the while thinking I’m his wife. A wife created by a ten-and a twelve-year-old.”
Sean lifted his hand to speak. “Remember we just told him about you. We didn’t make you up.”
“And we didn’t do it on purpose,” Ellie interjected, then blushed. “Well, not this time.”
Ignoring those statements, Kate continued firmly, “I want you to apologize to Mr. Rutledge for lying and interfering in his life before doing the same to me.”
They looked properly ashamed, and humbly apologized before they went outside for their evening chores. Kate rose to heat up the food for supper. The clamor of the pans hitting the stove seemed jarring in the silence. Clearing her throat, Kate apologized, “Mr. Rutledge, I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s Nathan,” he said, his voice sounding closer than she anticipated.
She turned to look up into his dark brown eyes and persisted. “Mr. Rut—”
He smiled knowingly, then shook his head. “Nathan.”
Frowning, she yielded. “Nathan, I guess the only way to get out of this would be to get an annulment.”
He leaned back against the table. “Should we want to get out of it?”
“Of course we should.” Her eyes widened. “Why? Don’t you?”
His gaze slid thoughtfully over her face. “I don’t know.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “How can you not know? It’s the only sensible thing to do.”
“Sensible to me is this. You need a husband, I need a wife, and we’re already married. Why not stay that way?”
She laughed. “You can’t mean that.”
His jaw tightened. “Just why can’t I?”
“Because …” She wavered and he seemed to sense it. Why couldn’t she stay married to him? It was too dangerous. He was too dangerous. She wasn’t ready. She’d never even met him before today. It simply wasn’t plausible. Yet she looked into his eyes and reason began to melt, along with her resistance.
“We can make this work,” Nathan insisted. “I’m already fond of you and I have nowhere else to go.”
She slowly shook her head. “I won’t do this. It isn’t fair to expect me to honor a commitment I never made.”
He stepped closer. “You were willing to honor that commitment when you signed the affidavit.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
She bit her lip then admitted, “I needed a loan from the bank. The banker said he would only give it to me if I was married.”
His gaze filled with a concern that strengthened into compassion. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I never intended to send the affidavit because I decided to look for some other way—any other way. I pleaded with Mr. Wilkins to let me postpone the payments until after harvest. He agreed, with the understanding that if I don’t make a payment after the harvest, the farm will immediately go into foreclosure. I planted more wheat than usual so I’m sure the harvest will be enough to keep the farm safe.”
“In other words, you don’t need me anymore and you’ll risk everything you own to keep it that way.” He paused, looking at her searchingly. “Why put yourself through that when it would be so much easier to go through with your original plan?”
She stiffened. “You’re right. I don’t need you. I have a plan and it’s going to work. It may be hard, but I’m going to make it the same way I have for two years. That means without you or any other man getting in the way.”
“So that’s it? I sold my property back in Noches because you said you wanted the children to grow up here. All of that was for nothing?”
“I’m sorry, but I hope you realize that I never said any such thing.”
“No, I guess you didn’t.” He took his Stetson from the table. Holding it in his hands, he nodded. “Sorry for the trouble, Ms. O’Brien. You’ll get your annulment. I’ll make sure of it.”
Nathan slid the bridle onto Delilah’s head, then glanced at the two children who watched him in disappointment.
“You’re leaving,” Sean said, more as a statement than a question.
“I’m afraid so.”
The boy looked down. “You aren’t coming back.”
“I doubt it.”
Ellie climbed onto the short wall that sectioned off Delilah’s stall to stare at him with imploring green eyes. “Why don’t you win her back?”
“You can’t win something back you never had, Ellie.”
She crossed her arms. “You didn’t even try.”
He had tried but Kate wasn’t willing to do the same. If Ellie thought he was the problem, then so be it. He’d caused enough strife in his own family to know better than to start it in someone else’s. Besides, Kate was probably right. He’d thought God was leading him to a new life, but this seemed to be just as much of a mistake as everything else he’d done lately—everything he was trying so desperately to forget.
He did his best not to let Ellie’s glower bother him as he finished saddling his mare. He led Delilah from her stall. The children followed him in silence until Sean asked, “What are you going to do now?”
He glanced back and was surprised to see deep concern in the boy’s eyes. Ellie seemed to have lost most of her defiance, because while her chin still tilted upward, her eyes looked suspiciously moist. He realized that even though he was nothing more than a stranger to Kate, her siblings probably felt they knew him well. In truth, they probably knew him better than anyone else in his life right now.
Impulsively he knelt to put himself on their level. “Hey, I hope you two aren’t worrying about me. I’ll figure something out. I always do.”
Ellie’s chin quivered. “We want you to stay.”
“I know you do.” He guessed he didn’t have to tell them that things didn’t always turn out the way you wanted. He figured they’d been through enough in their short lives to know that better than most. “I’m sorry I can’t do that, but you two have each other and Kate. You’ll be all right. Just remember to mind your sister. No more of this kind of stuff, you hear?”
They both nodded.
He stood and didn’t bother to knock the dust from his britches
